Toshiba Releases "High-Res" Cassette Player

Fantastic! I look forward to add it to my collection of boomboxes and tape decks, I guess after a couple of months in the market I could pick one for 20 or so.

 

I don't follow. What was wrong with HD-DVD besides it being the loser of a format war?

 

Give me the pops and clicks anytime over the result of that.

 

I suppose you have no problem with using Dolby S on cassette tapes?

 

Completely incomparable as Dolby introduced a change during the recording that then was reversed during playback. While what you suggest is just squashing any peaks (click, pops and music) it sees in the already recorded track with no previous compensation for that change. I never had Dolby S myself, I had C but did not use it.

I personally avoid the use of any artefact or software that instead of correctly reproducing the sound that's being provided attempts to change it into something the creator of that artefact or software "thinks" is better than the original sound.

 

I agree with your statement -- in the form of a question -- completely. But the key phrase is "besides it being a loser . . .". That is what HD-DVD shares in common with cassette -- for different reasons and at a different times, both were losers in format wars. Cassette and 8-track were eventually replaced by CD -- a superior medium.

Why is Toshiba investing R&D in an tape format -- esp. in the digital age? I had both reel-to-reel and 8-track, and my friends in high school & early college had cassette. Tape is a non-durable medium. It is easy to tear, etc.



RIAA data showing the trend for all media types since 1973.

 

Sorry but are you equating a video format that lasted just about a year before ended up in the bargain bin with two highly popular and successful tape systems that were produced for decades? Compact cassettes started before the 70's and were still widely in use in the mid 90's, that is about 30 years, not bad for what you are calling a loser format. CD are roughly that old and sales have been lagging for years already...

 

This is the deck that I saw:

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That player is straight garbage. The hipsters must LOVE IT!

 

Not sure the hipsters would love it, actually: firstly because AFAIK hipsters want retro which would mean something old rather than new and secondly, because cassette is probably already too mainstream again now

 

hi res cassette? ok.

it may be, but how many of us will downgrade to a cassette player, after its demise a long time ago. i have cassettes in a box in the basement, but have all of them transferred to cd, and keep them packed up.
no need for them. releasing this seems like a money grab for unsuspecting people who dont know any better.
i remember throwing cassettes on the floor when done with em, they are tough, and can be beat up like my old box of trusty 8tracks. take a licking and keep on tockin'

on the bright side, they wont get scratches, fingerprints, scuffs, and there will be no issues with importing .

good with the bad

 

The most striking thing of that chart to me is how fast most formats died. Folks dumped 8-tracks, cassettes and records FAST. The mighty and awesome CD in comparison is not giving up the ghost so easily.

 

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if the format crumbles within weeks of launch can be quickly recycled into a tape "dispenser"

 

I did not equate them. I stressed differences between the two when I wrote the phrase "for different reasons and at a different times."

I made a single point of comparison -- HD-DVD and cassette are both obsolete formats, therefore I see no reason for Toshiba to "bring back" a dated technology, no matter how wonderful it was in the past.

 

I agree with you that it just seems pointless to work in that direction. There is no shortage of great quality tape decks around if you really wanted to use cassettes and I have no doubt those 1980's monsters will sound better than whatever they are trying to make now as a cash grab. But while yes it is obsolete cassettes were kings for a very long time, so many products have come and go during their reign that I consider them highly successful products like VHS.

 

I am getting one of those right now!!! Shame I can't find the colour.

 

Yes, but if you have any interest beyond looks, even if just for knowledge sake, I encourage you to do some research on this deck.

 

When I get a chance I will check into it. I've heard that its supposed to be a great deck but I've haven't looked into it.

 

Just checked out some information on the Nakamichi Dragon and now I see why is is such a well-regarded tape deck. It seems like its performance would rival its contemporary reel-to-reel decks.

 

It did, but in part because consumer reel-to-reel decks had largely ceased evolving several years before. If they'd broadly gotten innovations like HX Pro, metal tape and Dolby C, their performance would have also improved considerably. Of course, so would the cost of the decks and their tape...

 

Nak Dragon and Nak CR-7E are THE cassette decks to have- both legendary and very good sounding.

 

Are we gonna to see a whole new generation of full-function cassette decks? Dolby HX Pro?

 

I have both Dragon and CR-7A but both need to be serviced ...